1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an art for clearly reproducing sound signals of multiple channels (for example, 5.1 channel and 7.1 channel) obtained from television broadcasting or a storage device, such as a VCR (Video Cassette Recorder), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a hard disc recorder. Various embodiments can be applied to a broadcasting receiving unit (hereinafter referred to as an STB (set-top-box)) that receives television broadcasting and outputs a sound signal and a video signal, a sound signal source (needless to say, the video signal can also be output), a sound processing unit, such as a switcher, for processing a signal from this sound signal source and distributing the signal to multiple speakers, or a display device, such as a television receiver.
2. Background and Related Art
In television broadcasting and package media, such as movie software products, the digitalization of video and sound signals is advancing. The realization of multiple channels in a digital sound signal advances. For example, some DVD audio includes what is referred to as 5.1 channel sound, in which five channels (typically including the front left (FL), the front right (FR), the center (C), the rear left (RL), and the rear right (RR)) and a sub woofer (S) are used for reproducing sound. Further, 7.1 channel audio can further include a front left center (FLC) and a front right center (FRC) speaker.
When the realization of multiple channels of a sound signal advances in this manner, the connection of a speaker cable becomes complicated and there is a possibility of incorrect connection. As a first prior art for simplifying the connection work of many speakers, for example, the art described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-25085 is generally known. It is disclosed in this literature that when a speaker of the 5.1 channel is connected, the arrangement of the speaker is judged with a test signal output from the speaker, and inappropriate arrangement and connection are posted if they are found, and at the same time the connection with the speaker is switched by an audio amplifier.
As a second prior art, for example, the art described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10 (1998)-94086 is known. It is disclosed in this literature that a terminal not connected to a speaker is detected and a sound signal to be supplied to the speaker is allocated to another speaker.